PHOTOS: Early Childhood School Students Filled With Awe and Wonder as Baby Chicks Hatch in Classrooms

The school partners with a local farm to incubate eggs in the classroom, which opens a world of learning opportunities during the three weeks students eagerly anticipate the hatching.
An annual spring tradition in Early Childhood School returned this month, as St. Margaret’s youngest learners, with wonder and awe, watched as 17 eggs completed the 21-day incubation period and hatched as baby chicks in division classrooms.
 
The Early School partners with a farm annually to incubate eggs in the classroom, which opens a world of learning opportunities during the three weeks students eagerly anticipate the hatching. Students learn about the life cycle of the chicks and how they develop inside the egg, take on a responsibility to maintain the incubator, and learn what chicks need for healthy development once they’ve hatched.
 
“Watching the chicks is experiential learning at its best and allows children to interact in their holistic learning environment,” said Early Childhood School pedagogista Diane Fletcher. “They all walk away with a new understanding of the process of life.”
 
The students, of course, had many names ready for the chicks—Minnie Mouse, Lou Lou, Chicky-Chick-Sue and Lala were just a few—and they embraced the responsibility of caring for the newborn animals  in their first days. They observed differences in the size and colors of the chicks, and took on many projects like chick-inspired artwork.
 
The chicks will return to the farm, yet the impact they had on the Early Childhood School students will last far beyond their stay at St. Margaret’s. 

“Watching the eggs hatch into adorable chicks is a metaphor for our own human growth, seeing the children develop into their own unique selves, with their own ways to express their learning, providing memories and joy,” Mrs. Fletcher said. “What a great way to end the year!”
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An Independent Preschool Through Grade 12 College-Preparatory Day School in Orange County California

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